


Pipe Dreams

by playingaaronburr



Series: Exquisitely Damaged [4]
Category: American Horror Story
Genre: Angst, Dreams, Fluff, Love, Other, american horror story - Freeform, happy with a sad ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 09:03:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17639795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/playingaaronburr/pseuds/playingaaronburr
Summary: Liz smiled at him, her eyes warmth and filled with love.For the moment she’d forgotten about the bittersweet dream she just had.“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, Liz whispered, in secret, between the shadow and the soul”





	Pipe Dreams

Tristan has a lot of money.

He’s not the richest man in America.

In fact, he barely brushes the lines that some consider wealthy, but he’s got quite a bit.

The Countess just forgot to ask.

He goes for a walk that afternoon– just before the airports close and buys two tickets for the next flight to France.

It’s a little (very) cliché but he knows she’d love it.

They’d go to the best cafés, the largest libraries and be together.

It was probably just a pipe dream, but he wanted it more then anything.

He fisted the tickets in his hands and shoved them in his back pocket.

It’s weird to think how quickly Liz went from being his quirky friend to the love of his life.

He wonders, if they were in some other place, in some other time, if they would have met and fallen in love before this.

But he doubts it.

The Countess created Liz, and without her, bitch that she was, Tristan doubted he would have ever even met the love of his life.

And fine.

He owed her.

He’d give her every penny he had, the inheritance from his mother included, if it meant he was able to love Liz freely.

He stopped for a moment and does a backtrack towards the bank where the rest of his fortune is stored.

It’s a lot.

Not the billions that Will Drake has but a few million.

Tristan pulled the umbrella closer to his head – noting the discomfort of the almost setting sun.

Maybe he could make his pipe dream come true.

* * *

 

 His conversation with the bank was quick and there’s a will drawn up with clear instructions.

It’ll all go to Liz.

But if they get out, except for the one million in his back pocket, it’s all be The Countess’ soon.

He walks calmly into the hotel and ignores the girls gossiping in the lobby about the women they murdered or the guys they slept with and (maybe) let live.

“Tristan”

He smiles at her, and kisses her, right in the middle of the lobby – ignoring the whoops! from the ghosts that showed up.

Liz is sweetly compliant – her talented tongue drawing a groan of pleasure from his throat.

It’s amazing how amazing she is.

But, as if the bell struck twelve, Liz pushed him away, long fingers covering her smeared mouth.

He wiped the sticky lipstick from his face and smiled a coy smile up at her.

It was probably the money in his pocket, or the freedom that seemed to be so close, but he felt almost giddy with excitement.

“Tristan, she hissed, looking around them, in almost fear, what are you thinking!?”

The lobby was completely cleared – nothing kept those girls entertained for long.

“Do you want to be with me?”

Liz seemed almost taken aback by the question before she gave him a soft smile, her eyes gentle, as she reached a sharp nail up to stroke his cheek.

“Of course I do”

He kissed her again, this time his mouth luring her in, his arms holding her tight.

They pulled away then, both breathless, foreheads leaned against each other.

It was amazing how much he loved her.

It was amazing how much she loved him.

“Then come with me”

The whisper was alarmingly loud in the empty hall but his focus was only on her.

She stared back at him – her eyes going back and forth before she finally closed them and taking a large breath.

“Alright”

The ride up the elevator was the fastest (the slowest) ride he’d ever taken.

It felt like a second (a century) before they finally reached the pent house and she’d started to wonder if this was the right decision.

Probably not.

But she didn’t – couldn’t – live in fear anymore.

They hurried down the hallway, her catwalk stride becoming a frenzied rush.

If they were going to die she wanted to get it over with.

Liz had no desire to be a mouse in the Countess’ game.

But if they were going to leave this place.

She wanted to leave as quickly (as fast) as possible.

The conversation was quick.  

When Tristan slid a piece of paper over to her Liz watched as her eyes grew round – she might as well as been licking her lips with hunger.

She shooed them away but Tristan didn’t move.

“You give me her”

The Countess looked up – the paper clenched in her hands.

“You give me her and that is all yours”

Her eyes flashed in anger and she balled the paper in her hands.

“And if I kill you, gut you where you stand!?”

Tristan stared at her calmly and Liz almost wanted to cry at the hope in his eyes.

“If I die of anything other than natural causes, he whispered, as he walked towards the Countess, or disappear under “strange” circumstance then the money will all be sent to various charities. You won’t see a cent”

The Countess was pissed and Liz was terrified.

The staring contest continued before the Countess finally bared her teeth and pointed towards her door.

“Get out!”

He wasn’t even going to look back.

He grabbed Liz and pulled her down the hall and towards the stairs trying to ignore the urge to just pick her up and run.

They took the first taxi they could find and they took the first plane they could.

And they lived Happily Ever After

* * *

 

And then they both woke up

* * *

 

The heat of the water was incandescently sweet on her skin.

She ran a thick sponge over her body – enjoying the small moment of silence and heat – trying to ignore the pain of tears behind her eyes.

That dream had been so real.

She had felt the warmth of him in the lobby, the hateful glare of the Countess on her face, the air running over her skin as they took a taxi to the nearest hotel.

It had been real.

Just for a moment.

She ran her hand over her face, trying to hold back her tears, and sniffled when she heard the door to the bathroom open.

He stared at her, sadness in his eyes.

It was as if he knew why she was so upset even though she hadn’t told him.

Tristan slipped into the shower behind her and pulled her to his chest.

“I love you”

“Oh,” she sighed, turning around, wrapping her arms around his neck, “I love you too, so much”

Tristan gave her that coy smile she loved so much and kissed her forehead, his breath warm and soft against her skin.

“ _You and I_ , he murmured against her skin, _it’s as though we have been taught to kiss in heaven and sent down to earth together, to see if we know what we were taught_.”

Liz smiled at him, her eyes warmth and filled with love.

“Doctor Zhivago”

He nodded a smile still on his lips.

For the moment she’d forgotten about the bittersweet dream she just had.

She smiled too – but then it turned sad and sweet.

 _“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,_ Liz whispered, in secret, _between the shadow and the soul”_

“Shakespeare?”

“Neruda”

“Hmm”

He laughed again and kissed her cheeks – the warm water from the shower falling all around them.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof - that hurt my heart.  
> It seems pretty clunky so I'm probably going to rewrite it in the coming weeks but I just really wanted to post this before I lost the idea (the urge)  
> Hope you enjoyed!


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